


I'm Ready

by sekritfandom



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blank Period, F/M, Slice of Life, Traveling, or learning to be soft, sakura is great, sasuke is soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sekritfandom/pseuds/sekritfandom
Summary: If he was being honest, there was very little he’d begrudge Sakura these days. Moments in the SasuSaku blank period.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 15
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was streaming in through the slats of the blinds, and Sasuke glanced up at the pinpricks of dust dancing in the light. With his chin resting on Sakura’s hipbone, he idly ran his fingers over the puckered skin on her abdomen. It was a long, thin scar, and had a matching twin on her lower back. He’d asked once or twice how she got it, but she just changed the subject.

_“Sasuke-kun, let’s figure out where we’re going next! I’m dying to try that dish that Lightning is famous for. I heard they can’t make it unless it’s actually storming_.”

And he’d let her.

If he was being honest, there was very little he’d begrudge Sakura these days.

“Mmmm, Sasuke?” He looked up at her from under his bangs, her sleepy eyes, her fingers already reaching for him. He pushed himself up before she could make contact, leaning away from her touch. 

“Mmmm, Sakura.” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. It was unnerving, sometimes, how free he felt with her.

Instead of answering, Sakura moved forward, fast as a — not a snake, something else, no, not a fox either — it didn’t matter anyway, she was already gripping his shoulders and pulling him to her.

“Good morning, Sasuke-kun.” She punctuated his name with a kiss, soft against his mouth, done just because she could. And he kissed her back, because he could.

* * *

He’d been traveling with Sakura for six months, and it had started out awkwardly, it took time for them to hit their stride. 

He was just so used to being alone, to making decisions without considering anyone else’s opinion — he thought, when he’d asked her to join him, that she’d just fit right into what he was already doing. He hadn’t really thought of her, just who he thought she was. Sakura.

But this wasn’t a Sakura who would let him get away with whatever he wanted. This wasn’t the Sakura of their genin days, happy with whatever sliver of attention he deigned to throw her way. This was someone who had grown up on her own, who had paved her own way with no help from her team. Who, he was learning, was every bit as stubborn as he was.

* * *

“Sasuke-kun, I will _not_ spend another night sleeping outside when we have money and there is a perfectly good inn less than half a day’s walk from here!”

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose. He’d already started unpacking.

“Sakura, if you wanted to stay in an inn, why didn’t you say something earlier?”

She glared at him.

“You mean like yesterday morning, when I said, ‘Hey Sasuke-kun, tomorrow we’ll probably make it to Itakagure. Let’s stay in an inn.’ And you said, and I quote, ‘Hn.’ Which I assumed meant, ‘yes,’ but am starting to realize maybe meant ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening because I am too self-involved to hear my—'” But she stumbled here, clearly unsure of how to refer to herself in the context of Sasuke.

His hands stilled from pulling things out of his pack. He uncurled his spine and stood tall before turning to look at her.

“My what?”

She had her eyes narrowed, and her hands were on her hips. He took in the red of her dress, stark against the sky, and the way the light glinted off the metal of her gloves. She was all hard lines and coiled energy.

“Why don’t _you_ tell _me_.” The sweetness of her voice was so sharp it could cut glass. 

He shrugged. Thinking of his fingers pressed against her forehead, he answered, “You’re mine.”

“I’m – what?”

“You’re mine. I’m yours. What else is there?”

He’d never get used to seeing a giant smile that he’d actually earned fill up her face. She charged at him and looped her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly. He took the happiness of this moment, of her lips pressed against his and pulled it deep into his heart.

This wasn’t their first kiss, but it’s the one he thinks of most frequently.

Afterward, she settled back on her feet and grinned,

“Let’s get to that inn, Sasuke-kun, and I’ll treat you to dinner.”

* * *

Now, Sasuke ran his fingers through Sakura’s hair, pushing it away from her face. They hadn’t seen a barber in ages, and while she could cut his hair, she’d politely declined his offer with a “One kunai-cut per lifetime is enough, Sasuke-kun.”

Her hair was so long now he’d lose sight of his own hands in the pink strands. She scrunched her nose and pulled away from him.

“Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he kept the small joy it brought to himself. He relished the softness and intimacy of it, and somewhere, he thought, it must remind him of his childhood. In the before.

She pushed his hands away again and used the added space to stretch her arms above her head and let out a deep groan before looking to their bags, settled on a desk in the corner of their room.

“Is there any food in your pack? I’m _starving_.”

He flipped over onto his back but let his pinky rest against her side, unwilling to disconnect just yet.

“You can go look.”

She rolled onto her side and he could see the whine working its way out through her lips before she’d even started talking.

“Sakura, if I do it, you’re just going to make me list every single thing that’s in there, but if you do it, you’ll look and realize you don’t want any of it in less than a minute and then we can just go to breakfast.”

She shoved at his shoulder.

“It sounds like you think you really know me, Sasuke-kun.”

The corner of his mouth went up a half measure.

“Trying to.”

* * *

In the second month of their travels, Sasuke learned that Sakura was _very_ weird about her food in a way she’d never let him see when they were children. They were walking through Snow, and the land was a blank canvas around them. Nothing to be seen for miles except whiteness. They were talking about what to eat when they finally made it to another village.

“Sasuke-kun, tomatoes are disgusting. I’m sorry you have terrible taste buds, but it’s true.”

“Sakura, you used to eat them with me after training. _You_ brought them!”

She laughed, small huffs painting the cold air in front of them.

“I wanted you to like me and I thought that meant liking all the same things you did. I usually only ate one, anyway, and gave you the rest.” 

He frowned, unsure if he was more upset with her lying or that he had been too unobservant to realize it.

“Well, that’s annoying.”

Without breaking stride, she turned and stuck her tongue out at him.

“Don’t be mad because you have bad taste.”

He let her get a few feet ahead of him, her hair hidden by a thick hood, and her frame completely engulfed. She looked like a —

“Dumplings. I bet you like dumplings.”

She let out a big laugh and let the sound carry back to him.

“When you’re right, you’re right, Sasuke-kun.”

* * *

They’d packed up their things and Sakura was taking one last look around the room before joining Sasuke at the door. She was diligent and he loved that about her.

“Okay, Sasuke-kun, I’m ready. We didn’t forget anything. Let’s go!”

He reached out and held her hand with the ease of someone who knows that this is his life, their fingers interlaced and their palms fit together.

“I’m ready.”


	2. I'm Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Sakura thought, she wished Sasuke would remember to think of her.

Sometimes, Sakura thought, she wished Sasuke would remember to think of her. No, that wasn’t right, she knew he thought of her — but sometimes, she wished he would think of more than her needs. That he would think of her wants because he wanted to, not because she asked him to. That it would become second nature to him — to remember more than who she might become to him. To remember that she was real. That she was here.

  
But she understood it was a learning process.

Still, she wasn’t perfect. So, when she’d gotten some good news in a letter from home, and was beaming, she waited for him to ask her why she was so happy. She waited for him to see that something in her face had changed.

She waited three days.

Finally, on the fourth morning since Ino’s note had come, she pushed his arm off of her, yanked the covers back, and stomped into the shower. After a very thorough wash, she slid the door open with more force than was necessary and winced when she heard the edges crack. Sasuke was still asleep.

She tried not to let the sight stymie her anger. These little things she was learning about him. It had taken six weeks for him to feel comfortable enough to sleep-in, to not hide the vulnerability somewhere far away from her reach. The morning she’d woken up and seen that he was still out, his breathing even, his face smooth and skin tinged orange in the early morning light, she’d held herself so still, like a snow hare caught in the open, terrified of chaos reigning down into the calm. His hand was resting on her thigh under the blankets, and he was turned toward her, head cushioned on what was left of his other arm. She’d stayed quiet, watching him sleep, relishing a sight of her Sasuke-kun that no one had likely seen in a decade.

Today, though, she pushed the memory of it aside, wanting to hold onto that simmering heat she felt in her head, if not her heart. Her brow furrowed and she counted the slights Sasuke had committed.

He hadn’t asked why she was so happy.

He hadn’t asked what was in the letter.

He hadn’t asked about home at all.

He hadn’t asked about home. 

He hadn’t asked.

She frowned at the realization. 

“Sasuke-kun?”

“Mmph.” Came a response from the lump underneath the covers.

“You know that note I got a few days ago?” she paused intentionally, waiting for him to peer out at her, dark eyes blinking away the sleep. “From home.” He rubbed at his face and combed his hair back and off his forehead. She bit her cheek to keep in the smile when it just fell right back into his eyes.

“Aa.”

“How come you didn’t ask me what was in it?”

He pushed up from the mattress and leaned against the headboard, giving her an inscrutable look. A look, she was starting to realize, he used very deliberately. She didn’t give into instinct, badgering him for an answer. She decided to wait him out. Crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall, she tried her best to match him, look for look.

While she waited, she took him in. His face had shifted downward just a few centimeters, and his eyes had narrowed, like he knew what she was doing. The sheet had fallen down to his waist, and she thought — not for the first time — of how absurdly beautiful he was, scars and all. He rubbed at his face again.

“I thought if it was important, you would tell me, Sakura.”

She pounced.

“Why does it have to be important, Sasuke-kun, shouldn’t we want to know everything? Important and otherwise? It’s not _important_ that you snore if you sleep too soon after eating, but I’m glad I know it.” She teased softly, to let him know this didn’t need to be an ugly fight. That she wasn’t trying to play a game of who-is-better-at-being-human.

He snorted at her example.

“I don’t think that’s true, but—” he crinkled his brow and stopped. Considering what he wanted to say, and how he could do it without hurting her feelings. She could tell.

It was progress, she supposed.

“Sasuke, you said you’re trying to know me — but so am I. I am trying to know you. I’m trying to know who you are and who you are with me and who I am with you and who we are together. All these different selves. If you hide things—” He made to speak, to interrupt her and she held up a hand to stop him. “If you hide things,” she repeated, “from me, or even from yourself, it makes it so much harder.”

She pushed off the wall and walked back towards the bed. He had stopped looking at her by then. She sat in the small space left between his hips and the edge of the bed instead of going around to the emptiness on his other side. She put a hand to his cheek and turned it toward her.

“Why won’t you ask about Konoha?”

Sasuke’s eyes, one ink-blank, the other ringed and lavender, held hers. He pushed forward and kissed her, bringing his hand up to run his fingers through her hair. He sighed softly into her mouth, following the breath with a slip of his tongue and she was lost until they both pulled back, breath short and cheeks red. Her lips felt love stung. Sasuke was looking at her like he thought she was disappearing, like she would fade off any second and he’d have to continue on without her.

She let the smallest mote of sadness rest in her tone and she asked again,

“Why won’t you ask about Konoha?”

And this time he answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is now going to be a series of interconnected one shots set during the blank period because, well, I don't want to work on real life things :D

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Coming out of, I don't know, ten year? fic-retirement because I'd rather write this than anything I'm supposed to be writing. I'm rusty, but I just wanted to get some soft SasuSaku moments across.


End file.
